Inside the 195mm (7.6") x 70mm (2.8") x 186mm (7.2") ASRock CoreHT-252B HTPC you will find a Core i5 2520m, 8GB DDR3-1333, a Lite-ON Blu-ray combodrive and a 500GB Western Digital Scorpio Black HDD. Pretty much all that you would need to run a proper HTPC and in a form that will look fine sitting under a TV. For input and output you have S/PDIF, mic-in, headphone-out, HDMI 4.1a and VGA as well as 2 USB 3.0, 4 USB 2.0 and an eSATA3 port for data transfer if you don't want to use the wired or wireless NICs. They sell it without an OS, which can be welcome for those wanting to build a MythTV or other non-Windows MCE HTPC and Overclockers Club were also glad of the upgrade options that this HTPC offers. Head to their full review here.

"If, on the other hand, you want an HTPC that can also act as a desktop replacement, look no further. There's adequate power for rendering of all sorts and the included RAM ought to cover most non-professional needs, but, if more is required, the board does support 8GB. Storage can be upgraded to include another 2.5" storage drive, and the included WD Scorpio Black could easily be replaced with an SSD. If more power is needed, the board will support the Core i7 2720m for more processing power (two more cores and threads!). A Blu-ray drive and wireless 802.11n wireless are included as standard."